Breivik reconstructs attack for Norway police

Restrained by a harness, the Norwegian made a secret daylong trip back to the crime scene at Utoeya island near Oslo.

15 Aug 2011 10:45 GMT

Police said they took Breivik back to Utoeya, where he shot the victims, for a hearing about the attacks [REUTERS]

Norwegian police took Anders Behring Breivik back to Utoeya island where he killed 69 people at a youth camp three weeks ago.

Breivik simulated his actions during his hour-long shooting spree on July 22 for police in a secret day-long trip back to the crime scene, police said on Sunday.

Police said they took Breivik back to Utoeya for a Saturday hearing, about the attacks, when Breivik shot the victims at the lake island after killing another eight people in the capital with a bomb.

"We were able to animate his memory with regard to what happened out there," Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby, the police prosecutor told reporters, adding that "many new details" emerged in the eight-hour journey around the island on Saturday.

"It was clear the suspect was not unmoved at being back on Utoeya, but he did not want to elaborate on it to anyone and there was no expression of regret for his actions," Kraby said.

The entire hearing was filmed by police and may later be used in court, he added.

Tour of island

Video images of the reconstruction published by Norwegian daily VG show Breivik arriving at Utoya in the same ferry he used to get to the island last month.

Breivik wore a bulletproof vest and a harness connected to a leash over a red T-shirt and jeans as he casually led police around the island.

Breivik is seen pointing out locations along the way and simulating shots into the water, where panicked teenagers dove in to try to escape from him.

"The suspect showed he wasn't emotionally unaffected by being back at Utoya ... but didn't show any remorse," Kraby told reporters.

"He has been questioned for around 50 hours about this, and he has always been calm, detailed and collaborative, and that was also the case on Utoeya."

Breivik's lawyer has said he has confessed to the attacks, but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was 'necessary to save Norway and Europe from Muslims and punish politicians who have embraced multiculturalism'.

The hearing was arranged to avoid the need for a reconstruction in the midst of the trial and to make Breivik remember more details, Kraby said.

Phone calls

Prosecutors have previously told The Associated Press that Breivik owns a video camera that they are still trying to locate, but have dismissed reports they received witness statements about Breivik filming on Utoeya.

A prosecutor also confirmed Norwegian media reports that police received several phone calls during the attack that were probably from Breivik himself, but would not say how police had reacted to the calls.

According to Norwegian daily Aftenposten, Breivik offered to surrender several times and asked police to call him back, but they did not.